title: Production of antibodies to Little cherry virus 1 coat protein by DNA prime and protein boost immunization.
abstract: Little cherry, an economically important disease of cherry is caused by at least two different viruses. One of these is Little cherry virus 1 (LChV-1) for the detection of which no efficient serological tools are available, so that diagnosis is based on molecular methods. In this study, different immunization strategies for producing antibodies against the viral coat protein of LChV-1 were tried, using either purified virus preparations, or bacterially expressed protein, or a DNA vector that expressed the cloned coat protein (CP) gene in vivo. Effective induction of specific antibodies to LChV-1 CP was obtained using DNA intramuscular immunization followed by a single boost with the recombinant protein. The entire coat protein sequence was cloned in a mammalian expression vector and, after being coated by an amphiphilic non-toxic reagent was delivered into rabbit. A protein boost increased the specific immune response against the virus protein. The sensitivity of this antiserum is lower if compared with that of antisera raised conventionally against other viruses, thus it requires improvements for use for diagnostic purposes.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Protezione delle Piante e Microbiologia Applicata, Università degli Studi and Istituto di Virologia Vegetale del CNR, sezione di Bari, Via Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matic
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Minafra
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Boscia
authors.forename: A T P
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: da Cunha
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Martelli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D029381:Closteroviridae / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004247:DNA / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D007117:Immunization, Secondary; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000821:virology; D027861:Prunus / Q000821:virology; D011817:Rabbits; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D014611:Vaccination; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014765:Viral Vaccines; D004247:DNA